A one-man off-Broadway play arrived in New York last week, interspersing …

Despite the Jobs-style setting (spartan) and attire (black shirt) seen in publicity shots for his one-man show, The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs, Mike Daisey is not himself playing the role of Steve Jobs. Instead, Daisey relays two tales: one about his own trip to the factories where many of Apple’s products are assembled, and another about Steve Jobs’ ascendancy in the tech world. Before him are some notes torn from a legal pad, a glass of water, and a cloth to mop his brow, which he folds and unfolds neatly as he moves from section to section.

Early on in the show, Daisey identifies himself as an Apple devotee, though one who has, “like many of you, indulge[d] in the Linux heresy” and also had a long-term affair with Microsoft in the 1990s.

Daisey alternates between talking about Steve Jobs’ professional life—well known to anyone who may have read a eulogy or seven in the days following Jobs' passing—and his own trip to Shenzhen, China. He describes the factory city as “the place where almost all of your shit comes from.” While there, he spoke to both employees and businessmen at the factories where each Apple product is created by the hands of thousands of Chinese workers.

The interspersed bits on Jobs’ life don’t constitute new information—Daisey relays the early days of the Macintosh, the Lisa, the falling out with John Sculley, and Jobs’ ouster from the company. The content of this abridged bio isn't that interesting, but Daisey’s fresh, sardonic take on it is.

His story of Shenzhen, on the other hand, has a different tone. With the help of his interpreter and some subterfuge, Daisey spoke to workers at the factories, some members of a secret union, and executives in charge of the factories. I don’t want to give too much away about this section of the story. I will say, though, that I have a passing familiarity with how the sausage is made in Shenzhen and I found these parts of the performance much more riveting than the biographical sections. Daisey dispenses more concrete revelations on the subject of factories in Shenzhen than do most magazine articles, simply because he did not elect to take the guided tour.

The show is funny above all else—Daisey insightfully mocks himself and others who blindly crave whatever marvel of industrial design Apple has just released. He calls Jobs “the master of the forced upgrade. Just when you think all the systems you own can speak to each other, he fucks you.”

The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs has been making the rounds for some months now, but the show will no doubt see increased interest since Jobs’ death. Daisey has added a vignette to the end of the show addressing what is now Steve Jobs’ final chapter, one that is amazingly meta and will leave you craving more details. It's a bit of appropriate restraint, though; the moment is reverent and a bit sentimental, and Steve Jobs famously is neither.

Daisey's performance isn’t a lecture—at least, not until the end—but an acknowledgement that our love of iProducts should be accompanied by a healthy dose of realism. Presumably, no one believes their iPhones are molded lovingly out of sunshine and rainbows by the hands of elves working at a casual pace, but most don’t have the full measure of how bad things can be in Shenzhen. Daisey makes an excellent point about his fellow technophiles: “we begin to believe that the edges of the Web are the edges of reality itself,” creating a blind spot about the real-world locations behind all those gadgets that make the Web possible.

It's a show well worth seeing. But if you do go, for the love of Jobs please silence your iPhone first.

Casey Johnston
Casey Johnston is the former Culture Editor at Ars Technica, and now does the occasional freelance story. She graduated from Columbia University with a degree in Applied Physics. Twitter@caseyjohnston

65 Reader Comments

I hope more people see this. I always suspected the Californian hippie mentality that Steve exuded and the maclots bought into wholesale was vapid and morally bankrupt, I'm hoping that when they're queueing up for the iPad 3 next year "now with new hat" they'll at least have the balls to feel guilty about it being made by slave children.

I hope more people see this. I always suspected the Californian hippie mentality that Steve exuded and the maclots bought into wholesale was vapid and morally bankrupt, I'm hoping that when they're queueing up for the iPad 3 next year "now with new hat" they'll at least have the balls to feel guilty about it being made by slave children.

Someone made carving out a lifestyle in modern society dependent on slave labour under appalling conditions, oh yeah and propping up cross-eyed religious nutcase societies that are lucky enough to be founded on shrinking pools of oil, but that's not Apple's problem.

Building somewhere with labour laws even shittier than the US for a 60% margin instead of a 50% one is though, and it's not like they're making heart/lung machines, they're making children's toys for wage slaves to feel slightly less miserable about their lives "look I can play angry birds on my massive commute back to my overvalued house yay!"

Someone made carving out a lifestyle in modern society dependent on slave labour under appalling conditions, oh yeah and propping up cross-eyed religious nutcase societies that are lucky enough to be founded on shrinking pools of oil, but that's not Apple's problem.

Building somewhere with labour laws even shittier than the US for a 60% margin instead of a 50% one is though, and it's not like they're making heart/lung machines, they're making children's toys for wage slaves to feel slightly less miserable about their lives "look I can play angry birds on my massive commute back to my overvalued house yay!"

Aha, and Apple is, of course, the ONE AND ONLY(tm) company to do that? Hint: All of them do it. No, this does not absolve Apple, but neither does it all the other companies. Please make sure to only wear and use items that were produced responsibly in the country you're living, then we can talk again.

I hope more people see this. I always suspected the Californian hippie mentality that Steve exuded and the maclots bought into wholesale was vapid and morally bankrupt, I'm hoping that when they're queueing up for the iPad 3 next year "now with new hat" they'll at least have the balls to feel guilty about it being made by slave children.

And yes I am a hypocrite. I think we all are

You're right, the world would be a better place if we were all aware of the true impact of our consumption.

Please make sure to only wear and use items that were produced responsibly in the country you're living, then we can talk again.

How the fuck do you do that?

Quote:

Oh the hypocrites...

Well duh, see the first post.

Now we're talking. We are ALL responsible on what and where we buy it. And yes, the situation looks grim. I think it's even worse in the US (do you guys even produce anything anymore besides weapons and cars?) than it is here in Europe, but its alarming nonetheless. Unfortunately globalization will allow big corporations (Apple among them) to do what they please, unless they will realize that nobody will be able to afford their products anymore, because most people will be unemployed.

Chinese factories are examples of the Republican dream combination of no safety net, zero union power and minimal regulation.

All we need now is for someone to bring religion into this discussion and we'll have a real party!

Paul Hill wrote:

Someone made carving out a lifestyle in modern society dependent on slave labour under appalling conditions, oh yeah and propping up cross-eyed religious nutcase societies that are lucky enough to be founded on shrinking pools of oil, but that's not Apple's problem.

Building somewhere with labour laws even shittier than the US for a 60% margin instead of a 50% one is though, and it's not like they're making heart/lung machines, they're making children's toys for wage slaves to feel slightly less miserable about their lives "look I can play angry birds on my massive commute back to my overvalued house yay!"

I likewise wish people would recognize the harm in how Apple manages/restricts the distribution of content across its platforms.

Aside from not having Flash on iOS exactly how does Apple, Inc. restrict the distribution of content across its platforms?

iOS Devices and the Mac generally support formats in which much of the world's media is delivered. Also you can get Flash on the Mac. Much of the worlds content is delivered in PDF and both iOS and the Mac excel at displaying that format.

If you do not like how "Apple manages/restricts the distribution of content across its platforms" then you can also use competing systems like Amazon Kindle for Books, Netflix for Movies, etc. There is plenty of competition and other alternatives even if you are on devices running iOS and Mac OS X. If you have a Mac you can even run Windows natively or Mac OS X/Windows/Linux in VM's all at the same time. There is plently of choice even if you are using an Apple platform. Finally if you do not like Apple there are plently of competing products.

Chinese factories are examples of the Republican dream combination of no safety net, zero union power and minimal regulation.

All we need now is for someone to bring religion into this discussion and we'll have a real party!

Paul Hill wrote:

Someone made carving out a lifestyle in modern society dependent on slave labour under appalling conditions, oh yeah and propping up cross-eyed religious nutcase societies that are lucky enough to be founded on shrinking pools of oil, but that's not Apple's problem.

Building somewhere with labour laws even shittier than the US for a 60% margin instead of a 50% one is though, and it's not like they're making heart/lung machines, they're making children's toys for wage slaves to feel slightly less miserable about their lives "look I can play angry birds on my massive commute back to my overvalued house yay!"

Can't agree with you more...

"The nation's [USA] economic welfare depends on a large mass of politically uncritical consumers willing to work long hours at bad jobs for the chance to purchase the latest thing."

IIRC, one of the anecdotes from the new Jobs bio is that he harangued Obama with a rant about how much easier it is to open factories in China. Sounds like a classic application of the Reality Distortion Field, given Jobs apparently ignored the sometimes shitty conditions in his own factories. Plus, apparently Jobs could go full-on Republican when it suited him.

I have to admit, I was a little dismissive of the play when I heard about it. I thought it might have been some pretentious, self-serving fanboy ode to Apple and Jobs. It looks like I couldn't have been more wrong. As a long time Apple user myself, it's nice to see someone take a critical look at the human cost of making this stuff.

I'm trying to get tickets for this Friday night. Unfortunately my girlfriend is afraid of the Fung Wah from Boston to NY (a few bumps here and there) so I'll probably have to go by myself. NY culture on the cheap, even though I'm a big hypocrite as far as my consumption of goods too.

OK, so, legitimate question here. I've never figured out why Apple gets so much bad PR about the China worker situation? And I mean Apple, specifically, as excluded from every other manufacturer that buys products from Foxconn & Co.

I remember in the past buying Foxconn motherboards to build PCs. Lots of manufacturers of consumer electronics use their parts. I get that they are Apple's primary supplier for a lot of parts, but I don't see why people have been associating Apple with sweat shops. Foxconn makes Wiis for Nintendo. Foxconn makes PS3s for Sony. Foxconn makes iPads for Apple. Yet, there's this sweat-shop association that comes with Apple and Steve Jobs that those other companies don't have.

Is there some difference in Apple's association with Foxconn that differs from Dell, Nintendo, and Sony, besides volume? Or is Apple singled out because they are large?

I hope more people see this. I always suspected the Californian hippie mentality that Steve exuded and the maclots bought into wholesale was vapid and morally bankrupt, I'm hoping that when they're queueing up for the iPad 3 next year "now with new hat" they'll at least have the balls to feel guilty about it being made by slave children.

And yes I am a hypocrite. I think we all are

Steve was all about building great tools "bicycles for our minds" as it were. The tools he helped build, while not always original, empowered many people and enabled whole economic ecosystems (just look at the iPod accessory market). How is that "vapid and morally bankrupt"?

The "maclots" can either buy or not buy the products of Apple Inc. simple as that and certainly not anyone's business but their own.

Instead of feeling guilty I would recommend a person get involved and work to pressure the corporations that are headquartered here in the US and Congress to improve working conditions and requirements in the countries where the products are manufactured.

OK, so, legitimate question here. I've never figured out why Apple gets so much bad PR about the China worker situation? And I mean Apple, specifically, as excluded from every other manufacturer that buys products from Foxconn & Co.

I remember in the past buying Foxconn motherboards to build PCs. Lots of manufacturers of consumer electronics use their parts. I get that they are Apple's primary supplier for a lot of parts, but I don't see why people have been associating Apple with sweat shops. Foxconn makes Wiis for Nintendo. Foxconn makes PS3s for Sony. Foxconn makes iPads for Apple. Yet, there's this sweat-shop association that comes with Apple and Steve Jobs that those other companies don't have.

Is there some difference in Apple's association with Foxconn that differs from Dell, Nintendo, and Sony, besides volume? Or is Apple singled out because they are large?

I'm sure a lot of it has to do with Apple being "the" consumer company right now. If you looked hard enough at the companies you mentioned, I'm sure there's plenty of horror stories to go around. As someone mentioned upthread, there's a documentary available about the lousy working conditions for Chinese blue jean manufacturers.

The problem, as has been documented ad nasuem, is that we in America want to buy our goods as cheaply as possible. That requires moving our manufacturing base overseas, where the labor is cheap and the standards for decent working conditions blow.

OK, so, legitimate question here. I've never figured out why Apple gets so much bad PR about the China worker situation? And I mean Apple, specifically, as excluded from every other manufacturer that buys products from Foxconn & Co.

Take your pick:

1. The Apple brand has a strong cultivated image component that almost no other tech brands have, and this information deflates that image.2. Jobs is a well-known (progressive) liberal, and this is embarassing to (progressive) liberals.3. Apple extracts much more profit from the labor of those same employees than the other brands do, thus their moral wrong is greater.

The problem, as has been documented ad nasuem, is that we in America want to buy our goods as cheaply as possible. That requires moving our manufacturing base overseas, where the labor is cheap and the standards for decent working conditions blow.

Sometimes. This is generally true only of low-value manufacturing. Manufacturing output in the U.S. measured by value is still nearly as high as it ever has been, we just tend to focus on high-value, lower-volume manufacturing domestically. Fewer low-skill jobs, too, unfortunately.

Also, the flip side is that the Chinese have just as much right as Americans to manufacture goods and sell them. Their competitive advantage is the lower cost of their labor. The working conditions of their electronics factories may blow by our standards, but how about compared to slogging out a subsistence living in a rice paddy?

Someone made carving out a lifestyle in modern society dependent on slave labour under appalling conditions, oh yeah and propping up cross-eyed religious nutcase societies that are lucky enough to be founded on shrinking pools of oil, but that's not Apple's problem.

Building somewhere with labour laws even shittier than the US for a 60% margin instead of a 50% one is though, and it's not like they're making heart/lung machines, they're making children's toys for wage slaves to feel slightly less miserable about their lives "look I can play angry birds on my massive commute back to my overvalued house yay!"

And on cue here come the comments about the "toys" made by Apple. You are good at making comments on what others may do - "look I can play angry birds on my massive commute back to my overvalued house yay!" but that is really none of yours or my business, unless you or I play Angry Birds.

If you want to affect change you need to work within the current system and inspire others to do so as well. Your commentary will not draw any people to your cause so you need to change how you communicate your message. Here's an idea for you: A 3 part strategy 1. Educate the people; 2. Organize the people; 3. Apply pressure en masse to the corporations right where it hurts - the top line and the bottom line and get those people to communicate a consistent message to Congress in the millions demanding that either working conditions are improved in those countries or a massive tariff will be applied to imports from the offending countries.

You observe the condition, but your commentary does nothing to change the condition.

I likewise wish people would recognize the harm in how Apple manages/restricts the distribution of content across its platforms.

Aside from not having Flash on iOS exactly how does Apple, Inc. restrict the distribution of content across its platforms?

iOS Devices and the Mac generally support formats in which much of the world's media is delivered. Also you can get Flash on the Mac. Much of the worlds content is delivered in PDF and both iOS and the Mac excel at displaying that format.

If you do not like how "Apple manages/restricts the distribution of content across its platforms" then you can also use competing systems like Amazon Kindle for Books, Netflix for Movies, etc. There is plenty of competition and other alternatives even if you are on devices running iOS and Mac OS X. If you have a Mac you can even run Windows natively or Mac OS X/Windows/Linux in VM's all at the same time. There is plently of choice even if you are using an Apple platform. Finally if you do not like Apple there are plently of competing products.

1. The Apple brand has a strong cultivated image component that almost no other tech brands have, and this information deflates that image.2. Jobs is a well-known (progressive) liberal, and this is embarassing to (progressive) liberals.3. Apple extracts much more profit from the labor of those same employees than the other brands do, thus their moral wrong is greater.

4. It is great fodder for Apple haters to attack Apple with (never mind that the chair they are sitting on, the clothes they are wearing, the keyboard they are typing on, the computer it is connected to, the cable modem connecting them to the internet were all made in similar or worse conditions, hypocrisy is subservient to hate).

This isn't a question of Republicans versus Democrats. Both parties support "free trade". NAFTA, a particularly egregious instance of outsourcing which has wrecked the economies of Mexico and the US, was the work of Bill Clinton, as was the deregulation of the banks.

Apple are a unique case, though, as their stuff costs a lot more than other vendors'. Therefore it would (in theory) be possible for them to manufacture products in the US, or to pay Chinese workers better than slave wages, or to insist on better environmental practices in their slave factories.

So far, they've chosen not to do this - preferring to make even more money than their competitors, instead. As far as I know we don't have the option of buying a "made in the US" computer any more. But we do have the option NOT to buy Apple's products, to wait out the next upgrade, and to forgo that shiny new piece of plastic made by slaves, "designed by Apple in California". That's a choice we CAN make, if we choose to.

IIRC, one of the anecdotes from the new Jobs bio is that he harangued Obama with a rant about how much easier it is to open factories in China. Sounds like a classic application of the Reality Distortion Field, given Jobs apparently ignored the sometimes shitty conditions in his own factories. Plus, apparently Jobs could go full-on Republican when it suited him.

You are aware that Apple was the first major corporation to inspect the factories where their products were made and request changes to be made right? Also how is that RDF in his talk w/Obama? It IS easier to just open factories in China than pay US workers what they require.

I think a lot of people forget the population of China sometimes and also forget the fact that before they started increasing their manufacturing like they do, these people working in factories were largely subsistence farmers. They could choose to not work in the factories if they wanted, but they work there. From various articles, it sounds like working conditions at Foxconn are better than many of the other factories over there

It is hard to buy smart when so much effort is given to hiding how things are made, and so little at telling people how. If a country doesn't have good labor laws, you can basically be assured that the product was made by people in poor conditions. And don't bother with "they are happier with the job than without it", of course they would rather not starve, but they would be happier still to be treated with respect.

Funny, I don't seem to see flac or mkv in there. I guess those aren't "formats in which much of the world's media is delivered".

That's b/c they aren't. Geeks use flac and mkv and most of the mkvs I see are from people who have been downloading rips off piratebay. Do major retailers sell much in the way of mkv or flac format? Nope. I download things I want to watch streamed over my AppleTV. It only streams certain formats, but Handbrake is free. Download show, run thru Handbrake, drop in iTunes. One extra step that I can have happening in the background while I work on other things. Not exactly a big issue to me.

I likewise wish people would recognize the harm in how Apple manages/restricts the distribution of content across its platforms.

Aside from not having Flash on iOS exactly how does Apple, Inc. restrict the distribution of content across its platforms?

iOS Devices and the Mac generally support formats in which much of the world's media is delivered. Also you can get Flash on the Mac. Much of the worlds content is delivered in PDF and both iOS and the Mac excel at displaying that format.

If you do not like how "Apple manages/restricts the distribution of content across its platforms" then you can also use competing systems like Amazon Kindle for Books, Netflix for Movies, etc. There is plenty of competition and other alternatives even if you are on devices running iOS and Mac OS X. If you have a Mac you can even run Windows natively or Mac OS X/Windows/Linux in VM's all at the same time. There is plently of choice even if you are using an Apple platform. Finally if you do not like Apple there are plently of competing products.

4. It is great fodder for Apple haters to attack Apple with (never mind that the chair they are sitting on, the clothes they are wearing, the keyboard they are typing on, the computer it is connected to, the cable modem connecting them to the internet were all made in similar or worse conditions, hypocrisy is subservient to hate).

This is all its about. Oh, and Mike Daisy finding a niche to try and be famous.